TL;DR i could get my associates in high school but it could impact my gpa and ecs. is it worth the risk?
So basically in my district, there’s this program for students who want to go into STEM where they enroll you as a community college student and you take classes there instead of regular high school. For your Junior and Senior years you’d take college equivalents to high school classes, earning both college and high school credit. (English 1 at the college would be like AP Lang in high school) Earn enough credits and you can graduate with your Associates (which is so cool what)
Now i know that i want to go into STEM and I actually recently submitted my application but I was wondering if its worth it? I mean the opportunity is amazing. Basically free college! (Its 100% free) But also a time commitment, as I’d be taking college classes and can damage my GPA.
Now of course there are so many factors to this, but based on you know is it worth the risk? Do colleges value this kind of experience?
Thank you, and let me know if you have any questions!
Would you be taking the courses at the community college?
Transferability of community college courses is usually better to in-state public universities than to other colleges that you may want to attend after high school graduation. Also, some private colleges may be restrictive on transferability of college courses taken while in high school.
If you intend to be a pre-med, there is a minefield of issues to consider when taking college courses while in high school, especially pre-med requirement courses at a community college. (Pre-meds have other minefields of issues with AP credit.)
It depends on a lot of things. Are you very interested in going to the 4 yr college that your community college has a transfer agreement with? Does your high school have no AP classes, or are they poorly taught, with most people not able to score 3/4/5 on the exam? Are you unlikely to qualify for a lot of financial aid? If the answer to all of these is “yes”, then I would say that this is a good option, as long as you’re not planning on med or PA school, since med and PA schools want your prereqs taken at a 4 yr college.
If you have good AP classes available to you, they are usually taught at a far higher level than those at community college. If you’re hoping to be admitted to a highly selective college, you’re unlikely to get any college credit for the classes you took at the community college. If you’re going to qualify for full or near full fin aid, there is no need to take community college credits - you’ll be able to enjoy a full 4 yrs at college, at low cost.
The only way that I’d be considering the community college classes as being too hard for you, and might bring down your GPA, and hence affect college admissions, is if you attend a high school with very low standards, where if you show up and hand in your homework, you’ll get an A because most of the other students don’t, or worse, are disruptive.
At decent high schools with good AP classes, you’ll probably get a much better education staying at the high school and taking as many AP classes as possible, not to mention that a string of A’s in AP classes with scores of 4 or 5 on the AP exams indicates to colleges that you are more than ready for the academic challenges at virtually all selective schools. Community college classes are largely much easier; hence the crash and burn phenomenon often experienced by those who transfer from community college to flagship state U’s or even 4 yr state colleges.
Many graduates of our town’s good suburban high school, who took all honors and APs, say that they didn’t meet classes of the same caliber at our flagship state U until they hit junior year of college.
The biggest thing is to check the transferability of the credits toward both the 4-year school you would plan to attend AND the degree you plan on seeking.
As an example, in NJ the state passed an in-state transfer law that requires 4-year in state schools to accept all 60 credits an associates issued from any in-state community college. So in NJ you can be sure that your associates credits will transfer to say Rowan or Rutgers. However, some schools, like Rutgers have specific requirement for specific degrees. For example, Rutgers New Brunswick requires for a Comp Sci degree they require you take certain CS class on their New Brunswick campus. They won’t even accept transfer credits from Rutgers Newark or Rutgers Camden.
Another option is to look for community colleges with transfer agreements. For example Burling ton and Camden County colleges have 2+2 program agreements with Rowan (2 years at community, then 2 years at University for the Bachelors). Here you can dual-enroll with these schools in high-school, graduate with their associates and go to those institutions.
Schools Typically have a limit of number credits you can transfer in, AP, Dual enroll or otherwise.
Finally, if you are going for something like Computer Information schools tend to be more lenient on what they will accept toward the degree vs going for a CS.
You should inquire with the schools you plan on attending to see what their transfer policies are in general but don’t forget to also check the requirements for the degree itself.
Be careful what you wish for. It is not the best idea to speed through school at such a young age. You do a lot of growing in your late teens and twenties. You may find yourself with an associate’s degree and faced with the “pick a major now” with no time to explore. Even if you know exactly what you want you will end up in a class with older students who will have a deeper academic background perhaps–some may even have another degree. And they’ll be a couple years older which may seem insignificant right now but people have an “emotional growth spurt” (for lack of better words) in their early 20’s. My warning is not about your academic ability but what type of competition you may face as a younger person and a definite drawback to your own personal social growth. Personally I’d lean toward AP classes is they are available to you.
i have a 4 year scholarship agreement with my state school so im not really worried about that.
for financial aid in general, my household income fluctuates due to my parents working in healthcare (at least according to my sister who is applying to college right now) so im not really sure about that.
my high school has 10 AP classes (i can only take 1 right now as a sophomore). i should find out the rigor of the courses because so far AP Seminar hasn’t been as challenging as I thought (even though it’s different from a regular AP class) i cant afford to take AP tests though because I don’t qualify for free and reduced lunch anymore…
in general my high school has some pretty low rankings academically with not many students attending school out of state (which i dont mind, but thats not what i want to do)
AP exams cost about $100 each. Couldn’t you do some babysitting or paid chores for neighbors or a small part time job to earn enough to pay for your AP exams? Also, if your family doesn’t qualify for reduced lunches, but doesn’t have the financial resources to help you with AP exams, then you really do need to strongly factor in finances. I would say in light of this that you should get the Associate’s degree, and then transfer to the state college. Even if you have a 4 yr scholarship agreement with your state college, you still have to cover living expenses, too, and this way you would only have living expenses to cover for two years instead of four.
your idea of doing DE then transferring actually sounds great especially finance-wise
if i apply to a selective school and the credits dont transfer, will the community college/DE look good for admissions or would it hurt my chances? (assuming i do well)
It depends on the state you are in, and the state the college you apply to is in. Community college systems vary in quality for students transferring to universities. In general, if both you and the private university you apply to are in states with good community colleges, the private university is more likely to look at the community college courses favorably than if both you and the private university are in states with community colleges that do not do well for students transferring to universities.
It also depends on what specific courses you take. For example, in math, if you take intermediate algebra (equivalent to high school algebra 2) and college algebra (equivalent to the non-trigonometry parts of high school precalculus) at a community college, that looks like you would be sharing a classroom with remedial math (from a college point of view) students. But if you take multivariable calculus and linear algebra (more advanced courses that come after single variable calculus or AP calculus), that looks a lot better in showing that you continued beyond what your high school could offer you.
Be sure to consider what college frosh/soph level courses you need for your desired major(s). An associates degree that does not match up with the frosh/soph level courses for your major(s) may not help much in advancing you toward graduation at lower cost.
For computer science and engineering, consider the following courses:
Math: single variable calculus (for math, physics, and engineering majors), linear algebra, discrete math, (for engineering) multivariable calculus, (sometimes) differential equations, probability and statistics (calculus-based)
Computer science: whatever the introductory sequence is, including data structures and computer systems.
Science: (for engineering) calculus-based physics, (sometimes) general chemistry or general biology
For ecology (biology):
Math: single variable calculus, probability and statistics
Science: general chemistry, organic chemistry, general biology, physics
For all majors (may be part of associates degree requirements):
English composition
Various general education courses in humanities and social sciences. Requirements may vary for the community college associates degree and at the various universities you may want to transfer credit to.
Foreign language is required at some but not all universities (less common for engineering majors). Level needed differs across universities that do require it.
ucbalmnus, ill use your list when im choosing classes (if i get in lol)
im struggling to choose between AP and Dual Enrollment after doing some research. like i mentioned, AP classes are expensive and im lowkey scared of taking tests and i like the possible rigor of community college classes but in the long run im not sure which is best while applying to colleges.
i also dont really know where i want to go for college so its all about finding a good choice considering that i dont know whats going to happen in the future.
thank you for your advice! ill keep it in mind while talking to my counselor
A community college may offer associates degrees which list requirements focused on transfer preparation for specific majors. For example, associates degree major in computer science for transfer or biology for transfer. If offered at the local community college, it is likely that the requirements are intended to match the frosh/soph level courses for those majors at in-state public universities.
You can also check if your in-state public universities have articulation agreements with community colleges that say which courses at the community colleges are considered equivalent to which courses at the universities. This can help with course planning if you target the in-state public universities.
Community college classes are usually NOT very rigorous. All you need to do well in them would be to show up, do the work, and study for exams. For AP classes, even if your school has very low standards, you’re expected to take the exams, and poor scores on those exams will show that you didn’t learn the material. So the dual enrollment Associate’s degree is by far the safer route.
You need to look at the transfer agreements at the community college from which you’d obtain the Associate’s degree. If you’re happy with going to that 4 yr college, you could probably take 3 or even 4 years there if you like, after high school, maybe submatriculate to come out with a master’s degree, too. If you’re a good student in honors level classes in high school, you will probably be able to do very well in the community college classes, assuming that you attend every class, do every assignment, and study for exams. This is the safest, surest route to an inexpensive and obtainable education for you.
An associate’s degree from a community college will not help you to get accepted to highly selective colleges. Those schools know that community college classes are less rigorous than AP classes, often less rigorous than high school honors classes. A string of 5’s on AP exams (which is a very tough thing to accomplish) shows far, far more rigor than A grades in community college classes. You would be competing against people with very high GPAs/class rank/test scores who had taken the most rigorous classes available to them (not community college classes), and who had outstanding to extraordinary achievement in extracurricular activities. You still might get into your flagship state U, but you’d now have to do all the gen ed classes that you otherwise wouldn’t have had to do, if you had gone the community college dual enrollment route.
So, if your family can’t/won’t pay even for AP exams, they’re not going to pay for college, and you need to choose the surest route to getting your degree. If you’re worried about the rigor of AP exams, worried about how to pay for college, your best bet is the dual enrollment Associate’s degree. At best, you’d have only two years more to finance at the state transfer institution. At worst, at least you’d have satisfied your gen eds and if you want/need 3-4 years at the state 4 year college in order to get the degree(s) you want, so be it.
I’m late to this party but do check the colleges you’re looking to attend beyond your CC. Some of them do take CC credits and even an AA degree, but some WILL NOT! We had a family friend whose kid had an AA from a great CC, but alas, the schools he wanted to apply to were now off limits because the colleges interpreted an AA degree as a bachelor’s degree and would now allow him to get another bachelors. Some colleges will allow it, so definitely do some homework. Also, check the matriculation rates of your current CC. If kids are transferring to great schools you are in luck. If they are not you have a large hill to climb. Good luck to you!
I didn’t think there was an issue if the AA was earned during high school. Issues can arise if CC classes are taken after graduating high school as the student could be treated as a transfer for admissions rather than a freshman (different application process, admission rate, financial aid/merit).
My understanding is that state public universities will have a greater likelihood of accepting the credits earned for the AA. Many privates will limit (or not accept) those credits and most will not evaluate a CC transcript until after enrollment. So that is something to research and consider when developing an application list.
But a very general answer to the OP, if the goal is to attend a public university (especially instate) and complete a bachelors in under 4 years to save money or have room to more easily double major or explore during the four years, getting the AA in high school could work in your favor.
Nothing to site… just what the mom told me (who was furious…). Just advice for the OP to take a look at what colleges accept and what they don’t from CCs.
No four year university is going to say that an AA is a BA and deny a student for that reason. The parent you spoke to is mistaken or has miscommunicated. That is false.
It’s far more likely that the college wouldn’t accept the credits the student tried to transfer in with. That could be due to what @DramaMama2021 said above, or the student could have exceeded the max transferable credits, or the college didn’t feel the classes taken were transferable.
It is a common misconception that “European History” is interchangeable from college to college, or that "Chem 1 " is going to be standard across the country.
Every institution decides its own credit policy, every institution defines what is and is not considered a comparable course.
Parents (and of course students) need to understand that what THEY believe to be transferable may or may not jive with reality at a particular institution. A department chair or Dean can look at a course syllabus and determine that a class taught via textbook with a multiple choice exam does not correlate to its own course (with the same name) which is taught via primary sources and a 30 page research paper.
OP- it really depends on what courses you are taking and how well taught they are, how interesting they are to you. If you are taking them to fill up space on your transcript, it may or may not pay out. If they are more interesting and more challenging than what’s available at your HS, then it’s worth pursuing even if you don’t get college credit for them.